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Climbers on top ropes working a wide frozen waterfall while a group waits on the ice below in Shuangqiao Valley

Ice climbing / Beginner ice climbing

Small group · fixed dates · Jan–Feb

The beginner ice climb.

Four days learning to climb ice in deep winter — gear school on the first evening, then three days on top rope under an instructor team, sleeping in a valley lodge at 3,200 metres. No climbing history needed; a guide team, shared gear and park logistics are in the price.

  • Duration4 days
  • Nights3
  • Climbing days3
  • Starts & endsMt. Siguniang
Ask about this itinerary

Top-rope day on a Shuangqiao icefall

VenueShuangqiao Valley

frozen waterfalls at around 3,500 m; lodge nights at 3,200 m

ExperienceNone needed

medium fitness, and you should have been above 3,000 m before

Group size2–30

a join-in course; you share the ice, the lodge and the meals

Shared gearIn the price

ropes and anchors; personal gear rents separately

Why this course

Learn to climb ice, in the best classroom in Sichuan.

Ice climbing is the craft of ascending frozen waterfalls — tools for the hands, crampons for the feet, and rope technique holding it all together. Shuangqiao Valley at Mt. Siguniang carries dozens of icefalls along its 38 kilometres, and its teaching walls are some of the friendliest anywhere: low-angle, fat with ice, and five minutes from the lodge door.

This four-day course assumes nothing. The first evening is a gear school — helmet, harness, boots, crampons and ice tools, handled until they are yours. The three climbing days build from movement on low-angle ice to full top-rope laps, with the instructor team deciding each morning where the ice is coldest and safest. Winter days here are sunny, between 0 and 8 °C by day and −10 to −15 °C at night, and climbing runs in the cold window from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

It runs as a join-in group on fixed dates from early January to early February — the heart of the ten-week ice season. Expect company: you will share the wall, the lodge and the meals with other climbers. A private course runs on request.

Route Briefing

You make your own way to Mt. Siguniang by 3 p.m. on day one; the course covers everything from the lodge check-in onwards. One valley, one lodge, three days on the ice.

  1. Day 01Arrive → Shuangqiao lodgesign up at the park office by 3 p.m., check in at 3,200 m, gear school after dinner
  2. Days 02–03On the ice, full daysgear drills, movement skills and top-rope climbing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  3. Day 04Final climbing daya last session on the ice, then the course ends in the late afternoon

Along the way

The ice is the point — the valley is the rest of it.

A course like this runs on routines: gear, coffee, cold fingers, good evenings. Around the climbing days, these are the things worth knowing are coming.

The ice

The teaching walls · Shuangqiao Valley

Walls built for teaching
Shuangqiao carries dozens of frozen waterfalls along its 38 km, and the teaching lines — the 30-metre Wuse wall among them — sit close to the lodge, fat with ice and topped with fixed anchors.
A climbing day on the ice's clock
Climbing runs while the ice is cold and safe, roughly 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the instructors re-read the wall every morning and move the group if a line has changed overnight.
Winter sun
Siguniang's winters are famously clear — daytime between 0 and 8 °C, nights down to −15 °C. Gloves dry by the stove; the ice is back by morning.

The wall mix shifts with the season's ice; Jiesi valley is the fallback when conditions in Shuangqiao are thin.

The valley

The lodge · the evenings · Rilong

A lodge at the foot of the ice
Basic, twin-share, and five minutes from the walls — the whole point of sleeping in the valley rather than commuting from town.
Company on the ice
A join-in course shares the wall with other climbers — sometimes several ropes on the same ice, all safe, all worth watching. The lodge dinners are where the week's stories land.
Rilong town
The base town sits at 3,100 m with inns, shops and the park office; the bus from Chengdu takes about four hours and lands you in time for the 3 p.m. sign-up.

What to pack, how the climbing window works and the health questions to clear first are covered above.

Day by day

The four days.

Each climbing day runs on the cold: a window from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., set each morning by the instructors against ice and weather. The evenings are for rest, food and drying gear.

  1. Day 01

    Arrive, check in, gear school

    Arrive Mt. Siguniang → Shuangqiao Valley

    You make your own way to Mt. Siguniang and sign up at the Siguniang authority office before 3 p.m. — the bus from Chengdu arrives in time; we can book it for you. From the office the course transfers into Shuangqiao (or the Jiesi valley, depending on ice conditions) and checks into the lodge at 3,200 metres.

    After dinner comes the first session: the kit laid out and explained — helmet, harness, climbing boots, crampons and ice tools — with everyone fitting and handling their own gear before the first morning on the ice.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Arrive by3 p.m. at the park office
    • EveningGear school after dinner
  2. Day 02

    First day on the ice

    Shuangqiao Valley

    An instructor demonstrating ice tools to a circle of students in helmets at the base of a frozen waterfall
    Movement school on low-angle ice

    The climbing window opens around 9 a.m., while the ice is still hard from the night. Gear drills first, then movement — feet, then tools, then both — on low-angle ice, with the instructor team spotting every placement. By mid-morning most climbers are on their first top ropes.

    Climbing stops when the sun softens the ice or the cold window closes, around 4 p.m. The afternoon is free: rest, walk the valley, or watch the bigger lines being climbed.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusGear use, movement, first top ropes
  3. Day 03

    Top-rope day

    Shuangqiao Valley

    A full top-rope day: laps on the teaching lines with the anchors set and checked by the instructors, and coaching on footwork, tool placement and rest positions as the day goes on. The wall choice moves with the ice — colder lines in the morning shade, easier ones as the sun reaches them.

    It is also the day most climbers stop thinking about the gear and start climbing. Expect tired forearms, and an evening with enough appetite to justify the lodge dinner.

    • OvernightLodge, 3,200 m
    • Climbing windowAbout 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
    • FocusTop-rope climbing, technique coaching
  4. Day 04

    Last laps, and out

    Shuangqiao Valley

    A final morning-and-early-afternoon session — the lines you climbed best, or the one that beat you yesterday. The course ends by late afternoon; there is no scheduled transfer, so you can stay a night longer in Rilong or head back to Chengdu the same evening by bus or shared car.

    If the ice and your arms both hold up, four days is enough to leave a top-rope climber with the movement vocabulary to carry on — and a clear picture of what the next grade asks.

    • EndsLate afternoon
    • To ChengduSelf-arranged bus or shared car
    • GearPersonal rentals returned at the lodge

Fixed departures

Ten courses through the ice season.

The course runs on set dates through January and early February 2027, back to back every three days through the coldest weeks of the valley's ten-week season.

Four days, three lodge nights. Prices are per person, twin share. Some January dates sell out — the booked-out ones are removed as they fill.
DepartsPer personChoose a departure
2–5 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
5–8 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
8–11 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
11–14 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
14–17 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
17–20 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
20–23 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
23–26 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
26–29 Jan 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
29 Jan–1 Feb 2027 CNY 4,5003,500 3 months ahead
Early booking
CNY 3,500 per person for a seat confirmed 3 months before departure; a CNY 500 deposit secures the spot.
Sign-up deadline
7 days before the course starts; bookings inside 7 days only by arrangement.
Group size
Two to thirty climbers — a join-in course where the ice and the lodge are shared.
Rentals and extras
Personal gear (helmet, harness, boots, crampons) rents at CNY 600; boots cover EU 36–45. Single room supplement CNY 560.

If none of these dates fit, ask anyway — the same course runs privately on your dates. How that works

What's included

What is included, and what is not.

A taught course, not an expedition: instructor team, lodge, park fees and shared climbing gear are in the price.

Included

Arranged and paid for before you arrive.

  • Ice-climbing instructor team

    Licensed guides who know the valley's walls and set every anchor.

  • Lodge nights

    Three nights, basic twin share, at the foot of the climbing.

  • Breakfasts and dinners

    Basic lodge meals; lunches are the one meal on you.

  • Shared climbing gear

    Ropes, anchors and the gear the course needs to run.

  • Park and climbing fees

    Entrance fees and climbing permits arranged ahead.

Not included

Yours, or yours to ask us about.

  • Personal climbing gear

    Helmet, harness, boots and crampons — rent for CNY 600, or bring your own (boots EU 36–45).

  • Getting there

    Transfers to and from Mt. Siguniang and any local transport are not in the price.

  • Lunches

    On climbing days; the lodge shop and Rilong town both work.

  • Single room supplement

    CNY 560 if you want the room to yourself.

People with cardiovascular or related conditions should not sign up; ask your doctor first, and tell us any surgery history. Waistlines over 90 cm need their own harness.

Enquiry

Ask us about this one.

Tell us which dates you are looking at and what your climbing background is — plain and complete, including what you have not done. We will come back with availability, the gear list and the fine print.

Response time
One business day
Season
January – February
Private option
On request, your dates

Trip details

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